Monte Kiffin, 72, spent 25 years as an NFL assistant and won a Super Bowl as the Tampa Bay Bucs' defensive coordinator in 2003. He left the Bucs in 2008 to join his son, who at the time was the Tennessee Volunteers' head coach, and headed to USC with him in 2010, as well.

"I really enjoyed my time at USC and the opportunity I had to work with our players and coaches. The chance to work for my son, Lane, was unique and memorable, but we always treated each other professionally on a coach-to-coach basis," Kiffin said in a released statement.

The Trojans are indeed headed to a bowl game, but the season has been a disappointment, something Kiffin alluded to in his statement—they started out atop the AP Top 25 poll but went 7-5, struggling particularly on defense; USC gave up 62 points and 720 total yards to Oregon in a loss earlier this month, a week after Arizona scored 39 points on 588 yards.

Opponents are averaging 24.6 points against the Trojans. USC ranked 63rd in the country in total defense, allowing 396.1 yards per game.